Unexpected Blessings
by LauraS26
Summary: When Kol wanders the night looking for fun while avoiding the family who failed to avenge him discovering he's alive, he isn't expecting to stumble across a spunky human facing down a rabid cold one. The entertainment isn't the only unexpected blessing he finds that night either. This is a one shot that I wrote to help beat my writers block on my chaptered fics for NaNo xx


Well well well. That wasn't something you saw every day now, he mused. Or even every night. Kol tilted his head taking in the scene of one of those sparkling icicles who had the temerity to call themselves vampires just because they happened to drink blood confronting a surprisingly defiant little human woman at the other end of the deserted street.

The glitter ball, sparkling even under the moonlight to his superior eyes, looked a fright. Disgraceful. There was no reason the woman couldn't brush that straggling shock of a crimson mane or wear shoes even if she was a nomad. How hard was it to kill a woman her size and loot the corpse even if she hadn't been smart enough to manage her finances? It was unacceptable to present yourself like a beast and then try to claim the same name as the species his family had founded. One of the myriad of reasons his kind couldn't stand the cold ones.

The human woman didn't look much better, but at least she was wearing shoes. She was pretty, or she would be if she wasn't so gaunt looking, with dark circles under her fiery brown eyes. A long brown ponytail reached her lower back, neat and serviceable. The clothes she had on were worn and a little dusty and she had a large blue backpack slung over one bony shoulder. She looked like she had been on the run actually. The sparkling defiance in her weary but fierce eyes reminded the Original of himself somehow. Something behind them that said she was doing things on her own terms and would never back down from a fight. Of course he always had the upper hand in a fight, but he felt a tugging in his chest, a thread of kinship anyway. She clearly knew what the false vampire was-and wasn't that curious-, so she had to know that a human had no way to fight her, but she still wasn't giving an inch.

The redhead was crouched in front of the, in his extremely expert opinion, much prettier brunette, deranged and feral looking. Pearlescent venom drooled down her chin making his nose wrinkle in disgust. Bloody hell, there was no need for that. The two were well out of earshot for a human, but Kol was no human. Hadn't been for a millennia. Every sound reached him loud and clear.

He had been so bored, and this looked like top notch entertainment.

He was in Idaho keeping a low profile after his witches had brought him back from the other side. After what he had seen observing them while he was dead, he had no intention of returning to the bosom of the loving family who hadn't even bothered to avenge his murder. They hadn't avenged him, hadn't found a way to bring him back, they hadn't even grieved him for more than a minute. So no, he had no intention of them even knowing he was back in the land of the living. He loved them still. Fuck, he loved them so much more than they could ever know. Kol was the emotional Mikaelson after all. He had never even considered flipping the switch. But he was done. Done being hurt. Being the one not included in their 'always and forever'. Being daggered and thrown in a box like unwanted junk whenever they didn't agree with him. So though his hidden, guarded, long dead heart was breaking inside him, he was breaking out of the cycle, and going his own way.

They didn't know that when he had been undaggered this time, his soulmark had been golden. How could he trust them enough to tell them?

All these centuries he had lived with the grey mark that showed his other half hadn't been born yet. Once Nik started daggering them there was the constant fear that one day he would be undaggered to the black mark showing they had been born and died while he was carted around like the world's most macabre luggage. If that had happened he knew there could have been no forgiveness. But no. It hadn't happened. They were alive.

He had no way of knowing how old they were. Had missed the colour seeping into the grey the moment they were born. But they were out there somewhere now.

When someone became a vampire, the gold mark on their soulmate became red. The humans had no idea what a red mark meant. What did his mate think? Their mark would have been red from birth. It would have been black the last few months too. He hoped it was red again. That it hadn't driven them to despair. They were alive at least, and he had clung to that knowledge from the moment he was resurrected nine weeks ago. A soft smile, rare in its lack of edge settled on his lips for a mere moment. Then it wavered, and his blank mask was restored as a worrying thought returned to plague him.

A couple of weeks ago, not long after his resurrection, a small speck of sparkling silver had appeared on the edge of the golden crown above the equally golden unicorn. He had always loved the symbolism in his mark, but the change bothered him. He wasn't sure what it meant but it was concerning. There weren't a lot of things that could affect a soul mark. It generally meant a change in state of being. A change in species, a change from unborn, to alive, to dead, these affected colour. It was incredibly rare, but not unheard of for great trauma to change the shape of the mark as it changed who the person was at a soul deep level.

Kol knew a lot about the soul marks. They were one of the few traces of magic left to vampires. When his mother had cursed him to this eternal life, she had ripped away a huge part of his identity. The grey fox and wolf chasing each other in a circle on his hip bone had morphed into the crowned unicorn he had borne the last thousand years. The mischief, and protectiveness replaced with a mark that screamed loyalty, power, and miracles, with a surprising undercurrent of purity. That had to be all them. There wasn't a shred of innocence to be found in his blood soaked soul.

All these centuries of revelry and freedom, but he didn't resent his mark. He awaited his mare with breathless hope. Hope that someone so pure that they warranted a unicorn soulmark could accept him. That they could love him over anyone. Choose him first.

There was no way to track a soulmate, which drove him crazy with directionless anxiety. He would just have to wait and see what fate engineered to throw them together. In the mean time he would look for some fun to distract himself. Quiet fun. Avoiding his siblings was really going to cramp his style.

He had been slinking around in the dark, baseball bat over his shoulder, looking for that fun when he stumbled across this. And this certainly wasn't boring for sure.

"Oh poor little baby Bella. Did you really think you could get away from me?" the redhead cooed sickeningly.

Ugh, the cold one had an awful, high pitched, affected little girl voice. It made him want to gouge out his own ears. Or better yet, rip out her tongue and burn it. Now that was an idea.

He tapped the bat on his shoulder twice, considering. Nik didn't pay much attention to the doings of the denizens of the sparkle kingdom. Tangling with one of them shouldn't bring him to the notice of his siblings. Of course it wouldn't be much of a fight. Even a baby true vampire was stronger than anything but a newborn off breed, and Kol was the furthest thing from a baby. Still, it was more excitement than he expected to stumble across in this supernatural dead zone he had found himself in.

Fuck it!

Manic grin in place, he flashed up behind the human and rested his chin on her fragile shoulder. Damn she was short, he was about bent in half! She smelled good too. A bit soured by sweat and fear and rage, but her base smell was fresh and sweet. Keeping his eyes locked on the redhead he pressed his nose into her dark hair and took a deep breath. Strawberry notes, and some flower Bekah would probably know the name of. Mmm.

One immovable arm wrapped around her waist, bracing for her inevitable startle. The hand holding his bat-aluminium, he wasn't tempting fate again-pointed it at the false vampire. His eyes sparked a warning that the slavering wench looked too crazed to heed. He really hoped she didn't. His new bat needed breaking in.

The girl he was wrapped around froze as soon as her slow, human mind caught up with his speed. The elevated pounding of her heart stuttered and he felt her take a shuddering breath, then her spine stiffened even more than it had already been. The narrow little shoulders already firm and tense from squaring up to the rabid bitch went back even further and he allowed her to shift his chin with the movement. The manic grin he had plastered on widened, feeling more real for the first time in weeks. This girl had fire. Maybe she would make a good vampire?

"Well hello there ladies. What seems to be the problem here?" He smirked at the cold one. "Did she insult your hair? Because I hate to tell you, but dragged through the forest wasn't a good look even when I was alive," he taunted. Poking the sleeping dragon was a favourite pastime of his. But honestly, Nik might be draconic in one of his moods, but a cold one was barely poking a sleeping cat for him.

The redhead screeched, a piercing sound, her crazy red eyes flicking between him and her chosen prey. "She's mine! It's her fault my James is dead! You can't have her!"

The brunette in his arms took that moment to chime in, in a low, pretty, iron backed voice. "James is dead because he was a psycho that pitted himself against a large gifted coven for no reason but his own stupid pride Victoria! He would be alive if he just backed down!"

Oho! Not just a face off with particularly brave prey then. Full blown cold one drama. If his hands were free he would be rubbing them together in glee. Probably for the best. His special brand of madness deserved a more dramatic reveal than villainous hand rubbing.

The woman in his arms wasn't trying to escape he finally noted. No, she was actually leaning back a little. A subconscious seeking of support that warmed something inside him. Weird.

"Ah, now my little friend Jer Bear told me just what to do in these situations!" he said struggling to keep a straight face. "So who knows the number for Jerry Springer?" The girl snorted an uncontrolled laugh he could feel from where his chest was plastered to her back, and that was the last straw for the clearly losing the plot redhead. She lunged wildly straight at the girl.

Not used to being dismissed as a threat, she actually caught Kol by surprise. He was fast enough to turn, taking the full charge into his side without budging, but his momentum sent the brunette skidding across the rough asphalt pavement. The scent of her blood bloomed in the air drawing out Kol's game face without his consent. It was probably the best thing he had ever scented. Absently wrapping a hand in Victoria's unkempt mane, he held her immovably while he processed that incrediblesmell.

Clearly infuriated by his disinterest, and her own impotence, the feral bitch slavered and screeched. When she reached to try clawing at him he grabbed both of her wrists in the hand not in her hair, dropping his bat to do so. He idly closed his fist, crushing both wrists with a satisfying crunching sound. She howled in pain and he smiled. Ah, nothing like a bit of pain to unwind. Someone else's pain of course. Well...

The girl, Bella if this raving mess in his hold could be believed, hissed, rolling to her back and pushing herself into a sitting position. Her little palms were pitted with little stones and bleeding, a hole torn into the left knee of her jeans exposed more abrasions. Her long sleeved T-shirt was torn on the same side, exposing a stretch of skin on her left hip. That skin held more grazes. It also held an unmistakable red unicorn under a sharply pointed crimson crown. He couldn't look away. He couldn't blink. He couldn't even breathe.

Kol really didn't have the attention to play with the cold one right now, but they were easy enough to put back together. She had dared to hunt his mate. For that crime her death wouldn't be quick, but for now-. He used the hand in her hair to pop her head off with no effort. His mate gaped, pretty brown eyes wide.

"Hello Darling. My name is Kol, and I've been looking for you for a very, very long time." He said, voice softer than he could ever remember.

Dropping the false vampire's body carelessly at his feet, he tossed the head down the street to avoid any awkward self reassembly. He would collect that later.

The Original walked slowly towards the brunette, hands out to his sides in a meaningless gesture. Being unarmed hardly made him less of a threat, but it seemed like it was maybe the thing to do? He could see the thoughts swimming behind her eyes before she gasped, a bloody hand flying down to cover the exposed mark. He smiled, a bright, honest thing that had rarely crossed his lips since he became a monster. His mate was a smart little thing.

Nodding to confirm her thought, he stopped at her feet and hiked up the side of his own shirt. Her eyes roamed his abs before locking on the mark and he smirked, pleased. It was only right that his mate desired him. He was incredibly sexy after all. She was beautiful too, and the blood coating her called to his beast. He was sure she would be stunning when she wasn't exhausted and half starved. He would take care of her now. That idea appealed intensely to his instincts. He couldn't wait to see her happy, healthy, and preferably riding him with abandon like the queen he knew she would be.

"Well Kol," she broke in, interrupting his quickly becoming very explicit thoughts, "as I'm sure you heard Vicky over there...and over there," she smirked and he choked on a surprised laugh, "say, I'm Bella. Isabella Swan. And I must say, you have impeccable timing."

He swept a courtly bow, eyes dancing with joy. "A pleasure to be of service my lady."

Chuckling, she pulled her legs in and levered herself to her feet. When she reached for the hem of his shirt with still bloody fingers his own hand snapped up without conscious thought, catching her wrist before she made contact. Belatedly it came to his attention that his vampire face was still out. And his mate hadn't flinched. Wanted to touch him. A pleased rumble escaped his chest, proud of his bold, clever, beautiful little mate.

"Careful Darling," He rasped, "there's only so much temptation a man can take. And having your blood on my clothes, smelling it constantly, well, I've never been known for restraining myself at the best of times."

He really thought she should look more concerned than she did. Seems his mate was as reckless as he was. Fuck. He was strong enough to back his risky actions up. But his Bella was tiny, and human and oh so fragile. She was going to be the end of him. But what an end it would be!

"What are you? You're not like them. Their faces don't do that," she made an amusing scrunched expression and hooked two fingers of her free hand in front of her mouth like fangs, "thing."

He smiled toothily, lifting his upper lip and leaning forward to give her the best view of his razor sharp fangs. "I'm a proper vampire, Darling. These glittering statues are abominations created from an earlier failed attempt to make us. They're older, but inferior in every way." He told her. The fascinated awe on her face was intoxicating.

"You're my soulmate. Are you venomous?" Came what he assumed would be the start of an interrogation. He blinked. Well that wasn't the first question he had expected. She was going to keep him on his toes. And he was looking forward to it.

"No, we still have blood, saliva, all our bodily fluids in fact." He leered playfully and was delighted when she blushed pink. Adorable. The leer dropped instantly when she raised her free hand up, presenting the bloody palm to his face.

"If you aren't venomous it should be safe, right?"

Fuck. She was perfect. Only two minutes after swapping names and she was offering to share blood with him. He wasn't going to say no to that.

He took that hand, shifting the hold he had on her other wrist so he was holding the fingers of each palm up hand. He raised the left to his lips, keeping intense, scorching eye contact with her as his tongue swept up the length of her middle finger before dipping into the space between index and middle fingers to lap up the liquid ambrosia she offered him so freely.

His moan was echoed by a tremulous, breathy little sound of her own. Kol was rock hard in his tight jeans. There would be time for that later. He continued to lap at her hands, teeth nipping little pieces of rock out of her flesh and sucking them clean of blood before spitting them out to the side. By the time he was done, the wounds were clean, and just barely seeping fresh blood. Both of them were trembling, panting, and filling the air with the scent of arousal.

Releasing her hands, he dropped to his knees, bringing him to the level of the grazes around her soulmark exposed by her shredded shirt. Closer to where the scent of her arousal was strongest too, pulling an agonised growl from him. A soft whine escaped her throat as he grinned wickedly, dragging his tongue over the grazes on her side. He cleaned them up thoroughly, enjoying the taste, and the way she clenched a slightly bleeding hand into his dark hair and whimpered. The satisfaction of tending to his mate they were cleaned he spent a few minutes kissing and lapping at his mark branded on her flesh. Every time he looked at it, a thrill of possessive pride struck him.

"Kol!" He placed a gentle nip beside the mark, revelling in the way her hips bucked. She would have fallen, knees buckled, if he hadn't been holding her up.

Smugly satisfied, he crouched low, and gave the graze on her knee the same treatment. She was forced to let go of his hair with a dissatisfied pout. Her smouldering eyes never left him as he feasted. Content that the wounds were clean, he locked eyes with her and lowered himself still further to press ardent kisses to the top of her shoes. Playful but serious in his worship.

Wild eyed, Bella crouched and dragged him to his feet, throwing her arms around his neck. She lunged onto tiptoes and pressed an eager but clearly inexperienced kiss to his utterly unprotesting mouth. He happily took over the kiss, guiding and plundering her delicious little mouth. A few more moments and she broke off panting against his mouth. Humans needed more breath than vampires he recalled hazily. Human. With a last nip at her swollen lower lip, he retreated.

"Will you take my blood Darling?" He entreated. "It will heal your wounds." Her blood was the best thing he had ever tasted, but right now he wanted it inside her, not seeping onto her skin and clothes. Her cute little nose-it had a charming scattering of freckles!-wrinkled adorably and she frowned up at him shaking her head. He frowned.

"I can't. Blood makes me sick. I got used to seeing it, and smelling it doesn't make me faint any more, but no way I can drink it, sorry." She said. She really did look apologetic and he blinked, bewildered. Fate had paired him, the one considered the most psychotic of the Original vampires, with a woman who couldn't handle blood? Well he could solve the immediate issue any way.

He wouldn't start this relationship, the one he had been waiting for since he was just a young witch boy in the village that would become Mystic Falls, by stripping her of her will. He wasn't Nik! Sure, he didn't care about the lives of all the worthless little people around him. And yes, he was volatile and prone to lashing out, but loyalty was the backbone of his soul, and he didn't betray people who were important. Bella was important.

"I can make you drink it without being sick," he offered, "will you let me?"

A bewildered squint furrowed her brow. "Uh, What? How do you think you can do that?"

"We, That is, proper vampires, can compel humans. It's...hypnosis I guess?" He shrugged, unconcerned with the wording. She looked speculative.

"Mental powers. Huh. I want to test something. Compel me to step backwards." She commanded him with all the self assurance of a queen, entirely confident her orders would be obeyed. It was sexy as hell.

He locked eyes with her, and obeyed, voice filled with pride. She blinked. He blinked. She didn't step back.

"Yeah, I didn't really think that would work. Worth a try."

"What." It wasn't even a question. Just a blank statement of confusion. She wasn't on vervain, he had drank her blood without issue. She didn't smell like a were, and he was attuned enough after spending centuries among them to have recognised the prickle of even latent witch abilities.

An unconcerned shrug was not what he wanted right now. It was what he got.

"Cold ones can't read my mind, and have unusual difficulty seeing my future or influencing my emotions. I think my brain just doesn't work right."

Incredible. A beautiful, bold, delicious mate. A mystery. Cold one drama. Kol grinned sharply and lunged to claim her mouth with a burningly possessive kiss. Subtly nicking his tongue on his own fang he slyly fed her his blood while she was too dazed and needy to even notice. With it sealed between their lips she couldn't even smell it and swallowed enough to heal her scrapes. Of course it would also mean if she were killed, he wouldn't have to lose her.

Breaking away he gave her a cocky grin. "I never make a claim I can't back up. How was the blood Darling?"

She swept her tongue around her mouth, eyes startled, then broke into giggles. "You're going to be a handful, aren't you? Should I call you Loki?"

He snorted. "I have no intention of being chained to a rock while a snake drips venom in my eyes, but I'd be happy to be your god." That earned him a playful slap on the chest with her healed hand and then her arms wound around his neck.

"Only if I can be your goddess." She breathed, eyes locked with his.

Oh yes, he thought gleefully, snapping the band holding her ponytail together with one hand and enjoying the sharp pinch she gave him where his neck met his shoulder in retaliation as he sank his fingers into brown silk. He would get her back to his place, where they could get to know eachother better, in all sorts of ways he hoped. Find out what was going on with the cold ones. Perhaps she would even like to join him in playing with the redhead a little, she didn't have any blood after all, and torture was a wonderful bonding activity. Then with any luck there would be more cold ones to hunt. Where was the large gifted coven mentioned earlier hmm?

Yes. The future was suddenly looking much more fun.


End file.
